COHRE 2004 Housing Rights Defender Award

On 24.11.2004, while the Geneva-based Aga Khan Foundation was calling up for its Award Ceremony in Delhi people, including/especially those who have been critical of its Awards honouring projects involving violations of planning law (such as the slum project in Indore in gross violation of housing rights), as per an official media realease Rajiv John George of Indore would have been in Geneva receiving COHRE 2004 Housing Rights Defender Award. The citation makes no reference to the protest against the DfID supported slum project and the Aga Khan Award for it, in course of which began Rajiv's simple initiatives in the context of Indore Master Plan, referred to in the citation in odd terms now of GIS. A dossier in honour of the honour bestowed on Rajiv.

COHRE’s Housing Rights Defender Award is presented annually to an individual who has shown outstanding commitment to the realisation of housing rights for all people. Nominees for the award must be committed to non-violence and independent of any political or governmental affiliation.

Mr Rajeev John George, the 34 year old Convenor of the National Forum for Housing Rights (NFHR), India, has won COHRE’s 2004 Housing Rights Defender Award for his outstanding contribution to the struggle for the human right to adequate housing. He is a passionate and articulate human rights activist who has been a tireless advocate for the housing rights of the urban poor in the city of Indore, and in India generally, for over 12 years. His dedicated campaigning led to him being arrested by police in October 2003, along with three other activists, during a peaceful demonstration calling for a moratorium on forced evictions during the rainy season, which had caused 11 preventable deaths in Indore and surrounding areas.

Rajeev has been working with homeless people and slum dwellers since the age of 22, when he undertook a field assignment at Gotu Ki Challa, one of the slums targeted in the Indore Habitat Improvement Project (IHIP). During this assignment, he decided to live alongside the slum dwellers. Rajeev’s time at Gotu Ki Challa equipped him well to understand the problems of slum dwellers from an insider’s perspective.

After witnessing firsthand the traumatic experience of forced eviction, Rajeev became deeply involved in mobilising communities against evictions and in promoting pro-poor interventions in the City Master Plans of both Indore and Hyderabad. In India most cities have a City Master Plan, which among other things makes provision for the resettlement and housing needs of the urban poor in accordance with statutory requirements. Rajeev is currently involved in developing innovative approaches that will lead to the most effective implementation of City Master Plans in India.

Rajeev is the founder of Deenbandhu, a non-governmental organisation focusing on integrated development processes and campaigns for habitational justice for urban poor communities. Deenbandhu has been involved in surveying land use throughout Indore city and preparing a detailed map of all urban poor settlements. The survey results have been updated and transferred into a digital format known as GIS (Geographical Information System), which is able to use satellite images to cross-check and extend land-based mapping techniques.

Deenbandhu’s innovative mapping work has helped identify locations designated for the relocation of slum dwellers but illegally occupied by influential groups, in violation of the City Master Plan. Their work has also allowed urban poor leaders to gain a comprehensive understanding of the overall development plan and better advocate for the housing needs of their communities, including adequate land for housing development and permanent tenure.

Rajeev played a key role in the establishment of the National Forum for Housing Rights in 2002, and is currently the Forum’s Convenor. The NFHR is a national network of independent organisations in India focusing on housing rights issues. It actively campaigns against the practice of forced evictions and advocates the provision of residential land to the low income population in urban centres.

Alongside his work to stop forced evictions and promote housing rights, Rajeev has undertaken numerous initiatives to empower the urban poor in India, including the Rag Pickers Women’s Cooperative Credit Society and the establishment of the “Go to School” campaign which lead to the enrolment of 102 slum children on the first day of the 1999 school year.

Rajeev continues to live among the urban poor in the slums of Indore with his wife Belu, a social worker, and is currently undertaking a doctoral degree while continuing his work towards realisation of the right to adequate housing.